Living with Derek, Hopefully
by ButterflyRae
Summary: At first, Derek & Casey could hardly stand being under the same roof. Flash forward to the end of their freshman year in college & they’re actually asking for permission to live together. This is the story of how they got to that point [Dasey].
1. His Other Roommate

Disclaimer / Author's Note:

This is a sequel to my first story, "A Casual Comment." However, I don't think that you have to read that story to enjoy this one. Flashbacks will be in italics.

Oh, and I still don't own Life with Derek.

**Chapter 1—His "Other Roommate" **

Jake Wilson sat on his bed reading a magazine while his roommate hid a pile of dirty laundry in the closet and his "other roommate" dusted off a family portrait on the desk. Honestly, she slept in their room as much as Jake did, so he'd basically come to see her as someone who lived with them.

Of course, it wasn't like he objected to it. About once every two weeks she'd get fed up and basically clean his roommate's half of the room. He half suspected that his roommate let it get so messy on purpose—either because he knew that she'd break down and clean it for him or just because he seemed to enjoy pushing her buttons. But then, as much as she yelled at him about it, she kind of seemed to enjoy the whole cleaning thing. Hey, whatever worked for them . . .

It was unusual for Jake to be there on a Friday afternoon. Typically around this time he'd already be off with some girl. Unfortunately, as it was parents' weekend at the university, most of the hot ones were off with their families. Plus, he'd made the mistake of hitting on his latest girlfriend's little sister that morning and Jess still wasn't talking to him. Nor was the sister. Who knew that they were related?

In any case, he thought, it wasn't really a bad day to be around the room. His roommate's family was arriving in about an hour and he was kind of interested in seeing how it would all play out.

You see Jake was one of the few people on campus who knew that his roommate was sort of related to the girl he was dating. It wasn't like they actively hid it, but it also wasn't something they'd bring up in casual conversation. They seemed to think that explaining the whole thing was simply too much trouble . . .

Jake himself didn't find out about their family until he'd already lived with the guy for nearly two months. Sure, he'd thought that it was a little weird that the girl who his roommate was sleeping with was in his roommate's family portrait, but she seemed like such a keener that Jake just assumed that his roommate's parents must have been thrilled when he brought her home with him. Later, he realized that they sort of had to love her—because she happened to be their daughter.

He distinctly remembered the morning that he found out about it . . . It was a Sunday and Jake had just come back from a night with Marie, the hot French chick who lived down the hall. He had been unsurprised to find the two of them arguing . . .

"_Der-ek!" yelled Casey. "Why did you take down the poster I put up?!"_

"_Gee, I don't know, Case," he said sarcastically, "maybe because this is MY room!"_

"_Yeah, well, if your not going to let me sleep in my own room, then I should probably have some say in how this place is decorated!" she yelled. _

"_Hey, Jake," she greeted, acknowledging his presence._

_They had these "discussions" in front of him often enough that they seemed to have no shame about the matter anymore. Not they had much to begin with . . . _

"_Jake, man, back me up here. It was way out of line to put up the ballet poster right?" Derek asked him. _

_Honestly, he wasn't completely sure. While he certainly didn't want any posters of ballerinas in his room and __**he**__ would never be pressured into putting one up by a girl, Casey did kind of have a point. Often Derek would practically force her to stay—even on nights when Jake was there and all they could do was sleep. It was like the guy was addicted to her or something . . ._

_Even if Jake had had a strong opinion about the matter, he wasn't about to get into the middle of their fight. He shrugged at them and opened his sociology book, pretending to read. _

"_I don't enjoy waking up to your stupid action movie posters every morning!" Casey was saying._

"_Okay, a) those movies are NOT stupid and b) IT'S MY ROOM!" retorted Derek._

"_Besides," he said smirking, "you know you come here for the action."_

"_You disgust me!" she said angrily._

"_Look, Case," Derek yelled, "if you had taken my advice when you filled out your housing form and put 'frequently out at night' at the most important characteristic in a potential roommate, then maybe we could spend more nights at your place!"_

"_Well excuse me for not making sex my highest priority when describing who I wanted to live with my freshman year of college!" yelled Casey, sitting down on the bed and turning away from him._

"_Come on, Case," he said rubbing her shoulders, "you don't really want to stay mad at me, do you?"_

_Jake saw her expression soften just a bit; perhaps Derek almost had her this time._

_But then he really screwed up._

"_I mean, that ballerina is hot," said Derek, "but you really don't expect me to have a ballet poster in my room, do you?"_

"_She's hot! Did you just say the ballerina was hot?!" Casey yelled._

"_Of course," said Derek, looking amused, "but you're the only fru-fru dancer I want staring back at me at night."_

"_That's it," said Casey, "just forget it!"_

_Derek smirked a bit, looking highly satisfied with himself. But his expression quickly changed when she continued her thought._

"_I'll just sleep in my own room tonight! God forbid we surround ourselves with a little culture!" she said, getting up and opening the door._

"_Casey!" he said, grabbing her wrist._

"_Yes?" she asked curtly. _

"_The street with all the colors," he said mumbling, and looking away from her._

"_What was that?" she asked._

"_You can put up that poster of the street with all the colors," he said, continuing to look away. "You know, the one with the little restaurant?"_

"_Café at Night by Van Gogh?" she asked._

"_I guess," he mumbled, "I don't' completely hate that one."_

"_Thank you, Derek," she said excitedly, throwing her arms around him and kissing him._

"_Um . . . I'm gonna to go," said Jake, knowing that they'd almost reached that part of the "discussion" where Derek flung his girlfriend on the bed._

"_No stay," said Casey, smiling at him brightly, "I'm going to go get the poster!"_

_She practically skipped out of the room in excitement. _

"_Man, Derek," said Jake smiling, "can you say whipped!"_

"_I am NOT whipped," said Derek, defensively. ". . .Besides, it's a pretty okay poster."_

_Jake just shook his head and smiled. In most ways, his roommate was an awesome guy. Supremely cool and shared a lot of his interests. But although Derek could have had almost any girl he wanted, he seemed to make some of his decisions based on the feeling that one bossy girl who had just left the room. Jake had to admit that dude was whipped._

"_Perhaps," he said, looking amused, "I should just call you Mr. McDonald. Or better yet, Mr. McDonald-Venturi. Casey strikes me as the type of girl who will wanna hyphenate your names."_

_Derek just rolled eyes at this; Jake knew that he and Derek just didn't see eye-to-eye on the whole commitment thing._

"_Ah, there's the lovely Mrs. McDonald-Venturi now," said Jake, as Casey walked back into the room._

"_Oh please," she said casually, unrolling the poster she was carrying, "__**Mrs.**__ McDonald-Venturi is my mother." _

_Then she looked up, realizing what she'd just said. And Derek let out a sigh as Jake raised his eyebrows in surprise._

That's when the whole story of Derek and Casey had been explained to him, Jake recalled. It wasn't that they'd seemed particularly ashamed of it; it just struck him that they saw it as rather long and tedious to tell.

Jake had actually found the whole thing kind of interesting. Especially the part about how they got together . . . (Shameless plug; read "A Casual Comment" the prequel to this story.)

Jake couldn't wait to meet the rest of the McDonald-Venturi clan, who would now be arriving any minute. That's why both of them (not just Casey this time) were frantically cleaning the room.

Of course, Jake knew that they'd want him to leave when it came time for Casey to give her PowerPoint presentation . . .

* * *

Author's Random Trivia: Read the Wikipedia article on "Life with Derek" for more on that ballerina poster. 


	2. Mood Swings

Author's Note: I'm not thrilled with this chapter. It was getting too long so I decided to end it before I got to the really fun part. Hopefully, the next chapter will be better. Also, every chapter or two will be from the perspective of a different character. The majority of this chapter and the next one will are from Derek's perspective. Finally, thanks to all my lovely reviewers. More soon. -Rae

Disclaimer: Life with Derek still isn't mine . . . sigh.

**Chapter 2—Mood Swings**

Personally, Jake thought that the PowerPoint was completely inane.

Needless to say, the thing was well organized and easy to follow. Nonetheless, who in their right mind would use an electronic slide show to ask for their parents' permission to shack up?

Apparently, Casey McDonald.

In fact, Jake thought to himself, making a PowerPoint had been a very Casey thing to do.

Although Derek seemed to be skeptical as well, shortly after Casey had brought it up, Derek had pulled him aside and asked him to humor her on this one . . .

* * *

Derek had no intention of actually sticking to that presentation. While their family had taken their dating as well as could be expected, he doubted that they would be calm enough to listen to a slideshow. Especially since the places that they'd been looking at were all one bedroom apartments.

In fact, Derek was pretty sure that both his dad and stepmom were surprised that he and Casey had lasted this long. And hey, why wouldn't they be? After all, none of his previous relationships had lasted more than a couple months, and he'd been seeing Casey for just over a year.

Although their parents seemed to be coming to grips with their relationship, talking about living together next year would be an entirely different matter . . .

Nonetheless, Derek had let Casey construct her PowerPoint and had even helped her run through it. Organizing and practicing what she wanted to say seemed to have a calming effect on her. Derek figured it made her feel more in control of the situation. And Casey definitely liked her control. It was something he was working on . . .

She was getting pretty worked up about the whole visit, or as he and Jake secretly referred to it, "pulling a Casey." But he knew that they'd be fine. After all, he loved her. He may not have said it out loud much, but he did.

Derek couldn't help but smile to himself as he recalled the first time that he'd told her. The entire thing had been so completely ridiculous.

In Derek's mind, it had started shortly after she put up that stupid poster. The two of them had been dating for just over seven months when Casey had suddenly gone all bipolar on him.

Granted she'd always been pretty emotional, but this had been completely different. One minute she would be on top of the world. They'd be laughing or talking or doing, well, other things, when suddenly she'd burst into tears.

She would always come up with some lame excuse—a B on her English paper or a disagreement with one of her friends—but frankly, Derek had not been convinced. As much as it had bothered him to see her like that, she hadn't seemed to want to talk about it and he hadn't wanted to push. Then one day he'd been forced to confront it . . .

_It was 5:15 on a Thursday. Derek had just gotten out of hockey practice and was looking forward to some down time. Sunday was an important game for the team and his coach had been working them particularly hard._

_He unlocked his room, just about ready to collapse in exhaustion, but what he saw quickly drove that idea from his mind. _

_Jake was sitting on the bed reading Keats while Casey was frantically tearing apart their room. His roommate gave him a significant look, indicating that something was seriously wrong with her. _

"_Where is it?!" she practically screamed at him. "Derek, I can't find it anywhere!"_

"_Calm, down Case," he said, walking to her and putting his hands on her shoulders. "Just tell me what's going on."_

"_It's my political science term paper," she said anxiously. "When I went to class I realized I didn't have it. The prof said I had until five to turn it in but I still can't find it anywhere!"_

"_Chillax, Case," he said, smiling at her in relief. "I turned that in for you."_

"_You did?" she asked sounding both relieved and extremely surprised._

"_Yeah," he said, shrugging. "I saw that you left it here this morning and since I knew you had class for most of the day today, I took over I took it over before hockey practice. Didn't you see the note on your door?"_

"_Um, no," she said softly, looking a little bit embarrassed. "I didn't even realize you knew the name of the class."_

"_Well, it would be kind of hard not to," he laughed. "You complain about it often enough."_

"_Der-ek!" she said, punching him lightly, then quickly giving him a smile and wrapping her arms around his neck. "How did I get so lucky?"_

"_Guess we'll never know," he smirked, leaning in and giving her a playful kiss._

_Jake was once again giving him that 'Dude, you're whipped look,' but frankly, Derek didn't care. Sure, Case could be kind of nutty, but she made him happy._

_Then, of course, it happened. Before he knew it, she was in tears again, and he didn't have a clue why. _

"_Um, residual stress," she told him, running out of his room. Perhaps, he thought, she needed her space. Besides, he didn't exactly deal well with tears._

"_Geez, what is wrong with her lately?" asked Jake. "I mean, you know I like her, but she's been acting like a real flake."_

"_I wish I knew," said Derek, looking a little concerned. Nutty and flakey, his girlfriend was just a few raisins short of a breakfast cereal . . ._

"_Oh, man," Jake said, seriously, "you don't think that she's . . ."_

"_What?" asked Derek._

"_Pregnant?" his roommate whispered, as if it were a dirty word._

_Derek flat out laughed. _

"_No way!" he said. _

"_Well, you do kind of . . . do things an awful lot," said Jake._

"_Yeah man, but this is Casey," said Derek. "Do you know how many forms of birth control she makes us use?"_

_His roommate looked at him skeptically._

"_Three!" said Derek. "Well, four if you couldn't cutting me off when she 'feels like she's ovulating.' She's like the most careful person I've ever met."_

"_Well, maybe that's why she's taking it so badly," Jake said. "It would explain the mood swings." _

"_J, Casey is NOT pregnant," said Derek firmly. _

"_Whatever you say man," Jake said skeptically. _

_Was it possible that his roommate was right?_


	3. Questions & Answers

Disclaimer: You know the drill. I own nothing.

**Chapter 3—Questions & Answers**

Looking back, Derek had to laugh at how worked up he'd gotten. While at first he had been skeptical of his roommate's idea, the more he'd thought about it, the more sense it had seemed to make . . .

_He was panicking. He knew that he was panicking. He knew it because he'd hurled in his bedroom garbage. What were they going to do? _

_Sure, kids loved him, but he wasn't ready to have one of his own! Maybe she would have an abortion . . . But maybe she wanted to keep it. Maybe she thought he didn't and that's why she'd been crying. He couldn't just let her keep it and not be involved. He loved her way too much for that. And hell, if was anything like her, he'd probably fall in love with it too. _

_But what about her dream of becoming a doctor? Or a lawyer? Or a doctor/lawyer? She couldn't give that up. Fuck. He'd have to stay home with it. But what about his idea to become a film-maker? Fuck. It was going to suck to give it up. But he'd have to do it, right? Right. She'd been working toward a career for so long that he couldn't just let her throw it all away. Directing could wait. _

_But maybe she would have the abortion. Maybe she was crying because she thought he'd object. Would he object? Probably not, but he wasn't 100 percent certain. _

_Derek rushed for the garbage can, hurling again. _

_But maybe she wasn't . . . He sooo hoped that she wasn't pregnant. _

_And if she was, why the hell wasn't she telling him?! No matter what she was hoping to do, didn't he at least have a right to know?!_

_In any case, he thought to himself, this was his chance to ask her. Casey McDonald had just walked into his room._

"_Derek, your room stinks!" she yelled at him, holding her nose in disgust. _

_Sensitive smell was a sign of pregnancy, he thought to himself nervously . . . Before realizing that it was probably all his vomit in the trash. _

"_Um, yeah," he said laughing nervously. "Seems like I just can't stop throwing up lately. What about you? I mean, have you been having that problem lately . . . Say in the mornings maybe?"_

_She was looking at him like he was completely insane and she no idea what he was talking about._

_Derek sighed. Clearly this was going to require a more direct approach . . . But, of course, he'd have to be sensitive about how he phrased things. _

"_Are you knocked-up, Case?" he asked._

_Her jaw dropped and she continued to stare at him dumbstruck. What the hell was that response supposed to mean? _

"_If you are," he continued nervously, "I'll support whatever you decide to do. Hell, if you want to keep it, I'll even bite the bullet and marry you." He laughed nervously._

_Her eyes were tearing and at same time, she looked furiously angry._

"_Don't bother!" she said, half yelling and half sobbing, "I wouldn't want to force you into a loveless marriage! And what child would want to have a family like that!"_

_With that she ran out of the room. _

_Fuck, he thought, she really was pregnant._

"_Casey!" he called, running after her. _

_He found her huddled in the corner of the stairwell, sobbing quietly to herself._

"_Casey," he said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "I didn't mean it like that. Of course I'll love you and our child very very much."_

"_Don't be an idiot, Derek," she sobbed. "Besides, I saw the way you reacted to the thought of marrying me."_

"_Case," he said softly, sitting down next to her. "It's not like I haven't thought that some day . . . It's just that we're both so young. And being a teen father will be an adjustment. And it's going to be hard being a stay-at-home dad . . . "_

_All this seemed to have calmed her down a little and he thought that he saw a trace of a smile almost break through her sobs. _

"_So," he said tenderly, stroking her face, "will you marry me and start our beautiful family?" _

_He didn't know that he was going to say it, but once he did, it just felt right._

"_No!" she practically shouted at him. _

"_Um, what?!" he said looking both angry and confused. "Why the hell not?!"_

"_Because you stupid jackass," she said, "I'm not pregnant!"_

"_You're not pregnant?!" he shouted, escalating to a volume that the entire dorm could probably hear. "YOU"RE NOT FUCKING PREGNANT!"_

_He noticed that Casey was laughing, as if the whole thing was one big fucking joke._

"_THEN WHY THE HELL DID YOU IMPLY THAT I WOULDN"T LOVE OUR CHILD!" he yelled, "WHAT ABOUT OUR FRICKIN' KID?!"_

_What the hell was she trying to do to him? And what about all the sobbing she'd been doing lately? He realized that those tears could not have been a joke and once again was left was with questions. If she wasn't pregnant, then what was going on? _

_Lowering his voice by decibels he asked her, "If you're not pregnant then what's with all the crying lately?"_

"_It's because," she said softly looking down, " . . . It's because I realized I'm in love with you."_

"_So?" he said as if were no big deal. "Why would you cry about a thing like that?"_

"_Because, Derek," she said, angrily, "sometimes I just wanted to tell you so badly I thought I'd explode but I thought it would freak you out! I didn't think that you would say it back."_

"_You're a complete moron," he said, scoffing and looking slightly away. "Of course I love you." _

"_Yeah," she said smiling and throwing her arms around him. "I know."_

_And then she kissed him so hard that his teeth chattered._

That had been a good day, Derek thought, smiling to himself. Stressful, but definitely a good a day. He hoped that today would turn out that way as well.

* * *

Author's Note: 

So sorry to leave you guys hanging/confused with that last chapter. I know the pregnancy thing was kind of a red herring . . . But Casey is not pregnant—just nuts. Seriously though, I think that it works much better this way. While I felt like it was important to show how much Derek loved her before having them take the serious step of living together, I didn't want them living together for the wrong reasons.

Plus, this was more fun to write. :-)

Also, you'll notice that a few of the things that Derek says / thinks in this chapter may seem slightly inconsistent with the completely selfish Derek that we've all come to know and love. But that's kind of point of having him say them. I wanted to show that he's grown.

Finally, although I have the next few chapters planned out it my head, I may not have a chance to update for a while. Things are about to get pretty busy in my own life.

Ps--Sorry for posting and quickly deleting this. I found a couple typos and we couldn't have that now. I fixed them though. :-)


	4. Now or Never

Author's Note: I've decided to do any experiment. After this chapter I am no longer going to post a disclaimer. After all, none of you are stupid and I assume that you know I've haven't somehow acquired Life with Derek since the earlier chapters where the disclaimer was prominently displayed. I guess we'll see if I get in trouble . . .

**Chapter 4—Now or Never**

"There," said Casey, flopping down on his bean bag chair in exhaustion, "all done with the cleaning."

Then she saw under the bed.

"Der-ek!" she exclaimed. "I thought that you were going to clean up all that trash under there."

"Chillax, Case," he said. "It's not like anyone can see it."

"I can see it you idiot!" she said, crawling over to the bed on her knees and starting to toss things out. "Things need to be perfect!"

"Casey!" he said, grabbing her arm and pulling her up to face him. "Calm down. Everything is going to be fine."

"Yeah, well, easy for you to say," she said. She was aware that she wasn't making much sense and could feel the tears welling up in her eyes.

How could she have let him talk her into this?

She remembered the first time he mentioned it. It seemed like only yesterday . . .

_It was a Friday, two weeks ago, and they were on their way to dinner. They were meeting Jake and Jessica, a girl in Casey's political science class. It was sort of a set-up. Jake had asked Casey to introduce them, and perhaps naively, she had agreed. _

"_I'm telling you, Case," said Derek, "this whole thing is a bad idea."_

"_You never know," she said, smiling, "maybe I'll make a love connection."_

"_Oh, there will be a connection there alright," he said. "I just doubt that there will be any love involved. You know Jake is a player."_

"_Well," she said defensively, "so were you. And all it took was one smart pretty girl to tame the beast." She straightened his collar, feeling extremely satisfied with herself._

"_Okay, a) don't ever use the phrase 'tame the beast again' and b) I am not tame," he said, giving her a smirk. He looked at her intently and before she knew it she'd been shoved into an empty room and he was sucking on her ear lobe._

"_Der-ek!" she shouted, half-heartedly. "We're going to be late."_

_He sighed and stopped what he was doing. _

"_But seriously, Case," he said to her, "you understand that your not just some 'smart pretty girl', right? If you were we probably wouldn't still be dating."_

"_What's that supposed to mean?" she asked._

_She heard him sigh again._

"_It means you're special," he said. "You're the only girl I've ever met who can be as pig-headed, stubborn, and strong as I am."_

_She wasn't quite sure whether to be flattered or angry._

"_You're my match," he continued._

"_Oh," she said, blushing. He was smirking at her again. She looked away from him, focusing on straight ahead. If she didn't, she suspected she'd be pulled into a room again. _

"_Maybe Jess will be Jake's," she suggested. _

"_Unlikely," said Derek, "and if not, you'll be riddled with guilt. I know you, Case, you will."_

_She sighed, perhaps he was right. But in any case, it was too late now. They entered the dining hall and sat down at a table where Jake and Jessica were already sitting. _

_The two of them were talking about room draw, which was coming up in another month. _

"_I think I'm going to get an apartment off-campus," said Jess. "My friend Laurie and I are thinking of moving in together."_

_Jake raised his eyebrows. Casey knew that he was probably wondering whether that friend was hot. Yeah, this had been a mistake . . ._

"_What about you?" Jess asked Jake. "Are you going to live with Derek, again?"_

"_I'd be up for it," he shrugged. "Any thoughts, D?"_

"_Actually," Casey heard Derek say, "I'm going to live with Casey."_

_She had almost choked on the food that she was eating and he'd had to pat her on the back._

"_What?!" she said. "We've never talked about that."_

"_Oh, come on Case," he said smirking at her, "you know you want to."_

"_Derek, are you insane?" she said. "They don't exactly let guys and girls room together."_

"_Have you ever heard of an apartment?" he said._

She had made a lot of arguments that night. They were only 19, it was a huge commitment, what would their family think, etc. But in the end, he had won that discussion. Because the thing was, she actually really really wanted it. And she knew that both of them were ready.

But she also thought that her family was never going to go for it. Perhaps, she should have just gotten a single next year and taken Jake up on his offer to unofficially switch beds with her. Of course, he'd wanted to her select a room on an all girls floor and she didn't know how comfortable she would have been with that . . .

"Casey," said Derek, gently, bringing her back to reality, "we're doing the right thing."

He smiled at her softly, looking slightly amused. "Besides," he said, "you could never have kept that kind of secret from our family."

He knew her too well. She gave him a slight smile, feeling a little bit better.

Just then there was a knock on the door. They were here!

She kicked the pile of trash back under the bed, as Jake open up the door. And there they were.

"Casey!" her mother said, running to her and hugging her.

And suddenly everything was alright again. In her anxiety over that talk, she'd forgotten how much she missed them. And she forgotten why they were actually coming—because they missed her and Derek as well.

Derek, who was spinning Marti in his arms, threw her a quick smile. Perhaps this wouldn't be as bad as she thought.

* * *

The whole afternoon went relatively smoothly. Her mom and George had taken them shopping and Casey had bought a filing cabinet for her room for her room and a terrific drawer organizer for Derek's desk. 

She'd had a chance to catch up with Liz and to hear about the new guy her sister was dating. Apparently they'd met through kickboxing.

And she couldn't believe how fast Marti was growing up. Although her personality hadn't changed all that much, the nine-year-old had shown up about an inch taller than she'd been at Christmas time and wearing very dramatic and very purple eyeliner. Casey thought it was a little much and was going to offer to help her apply it better, but before she could, Derek had kicked her and told a delighted Marti that she looked beautiful.

Edwin had stayed in Derek's room while they shopped, pouring over Derek's economics book. He was taking AP econ himself, and she was pretty sure that he was doing better in than his older brother. That kid would end up on Wall Street some day . . .

Dinner that night was pleasant as well—at least for the most part.

They'd taken Jake and her college best friend, Sarah, out with all of them for Indian food. It had been a little awkward when they ran into Jessica, who was also there with her family. Casey was kind of mad about that situation. She didn't understand how Jake could be such a good friend to Derek, but a total jerk when it came to his girlfriends. But then, she supposed that Derek had warned her.

They had had another odd moment when they ran into Heather, a girl from Casey's English class. She had asked Casey whether they were with her family or Derek's and Casey had felt a little weird about telling her. There hadn't actually been time to go into all the details . . . However, Casey felt a lot better about the whole thing when Heather introduced her to her two Moms. Perhaps there was something about everyone's family, she thought.

Well, she thought, bracing herself as Derek unlocked his door and led them all back into the room, it was now or never.

* * *

Author's Note: It will probably be a while before I finish / post the next chapter, but don't worry, I'm not going to forget about it. 


	5. Someone to Look Up To

Author's Note: So this chapter is a little different in that it is the only one without a flashback. I felt like I needed to focus on present events. I'm not crazy about the second half, but I feel like it's honest and needed to be written.

**Chapter 5—Someone to Look Up To**

So far, Edwin really liked the University of Toronto. Not only did it have an internationally ranked economics program, but it also had a lot of cute girls. Sarah, who had joined them for dinner, had been hot.

Of course, Derek's roommate had seemed to think so too. He had gone with her after dinner, despite Sarah's insistence that he didn't have a chance in hell with her. It seemed to Edwin like they had definitely had that conversation before.

The odd thing about it was that Casey had sort of pushed Jake not to come back with them. What was that all about?

"Ah hem," Casey cleared her throat. Although she was wearing a big smile, Edwin thought that she looked slightly nervous. Either that or the Indian food hadn't gone down quite right.

"Now we have a very important presentation for all of you," she said. "If you'll sit down over here where you can see the computer screen, Derek will pass out some supplemental handouts."

Standing behind Casey, his brother rolled his eyes, smiled, and gave Edwin a wink.

"But I want to play with your computer, Smerek!" said Marti.

"Not now, Smarti," Derek whispered. "You can play with it later though, I promise."

Edwin was intrigued. He listened attentively as Casey gave a fascinating lecture on the price of student housing and dining.

He really admired her effective utilization of graphs. He had always thought that his oldest stepsister would have made a phenomenal businesswoman and here she was proving him right again. It would be such a waste if she went into medicine.

"So, you see," she was saying, "it doesn't make financial sense for us to live on campus. Derek and I were thinking that we could get an apartment together, and as—"

"WHAT?!" Nora interrupted.

So that was what this was all about, Edwin thought.

"As you'll see on your handout," Casey continued, nervously, clearly attempting to ignore Nora's response, "the prices of apartments in this area of Toronto are clearly quite reasonable."

"Whoa," said Edwin glancing at his sheet, "the real estate market in Toronto is phenomenal! You can barely get a two-bedroom in London for this much."

"Um, Ed," Derek said a little sheepishly, "none of those are two-bedrooms."

"Edwin. Lizzie. Marti. Out." said George.

Although Edwin personally wanted to stay, there was a very serious tone in his father's voice.

"Where are we supposed to go?" he asked.

"Edwin take your sisters to the snack bar," said Nora, "we'll meet you there."

"Did Casey do some thing wrong?" asked Marti, looking slightly concerned.

"Edwin," George said, clearly trying not to yell while they were there, "take your sisters and go."

"Come on guys," he said, leading his sisters out into the hallway and closing the door.

Almost immediately he heard his Nora's voice blasting from behind the door.

"Casey, what were you thinking even bringing this up in front of them?!"

"Yeah, Derek," he heard his father yell, "Lizzie had to go see that guidance counselor for two months after you started dating! Do you think that I want all three of my daughters to have to go see that man?!"

Obviously Derek had given Casey some sort of smirk, because the next thing he heard was, "Ow Case, I didn't say anything." Casey had gone to see the guidance counselor right up until the week that they graduated and Edwin knew that Derek like to tease about it.

He looked over at Lizzie to see how she was handling all of it. She had a weird expression on her face as she strained to hear through the door.

"Come on," he said grabbing her arm, as well as the hand of his other sister. "Let's get out of here."

* * *

Lizzie, personally, was not hungry. Nonetheless, she accepted the ice cream that Edwin bought her, and sat down with him at a table as Marti went off to play an arcade game. Honestly, she was still a bit dazed from it all . . .

"Are you okay, Liz?" Edwin asked her.

Lizzie could hear the concern in his voice. She knew that they would all be worried about her. Of everyone in their family, she had been the most upset when Casey and Derek had started dating.

The thing was, for her, it had never been about Casey and Derek.

When they first moved into the Venturi house, Casey had been very vocal about her displeasure with the situation. For the first few months, it was all about _Casey's_ new house, _Casey's_ new school, and _Casey's_ new stepbrother Derek. But what no one seemed to realize was that she had feelings too. Sure, she hadn't complained about it as much, but that didn't mean that the change hadn't affected her.

She, Casey, her mom, and her dad had all been living together in Toronto. Then one day, her parents had told her they were divorcing, and suddenly, it was just the three of them. Only a couple years later her mother had met George and her family had once again changed. She had tried to take it all in stride. After all, she liked Derek and Edwin and Marti, and having stepsiblings was not the worst thing in the world. Soon she found herself calling George dad and thinking of her stepsibs as her real family.

Then Casey had started dating Derek and suddenly all of it was called into question. It had just reinforced the idea that, at any moment, the relationships that she had come to feel secure in could change. She had worried that Edwin might see her as more than a sister and didn't know what to think about her family anymore.

Fortunately, Casey's guidance counselor had been smart enough to suggest that they all come in for a family meeting, after which he had suggested that she (who, by that time, was in high school) might want to have for weekly meetings with him for a little while. She had gone to see Paul for two months, and during that time, she had come to feel much better about the whole thing. Edwin had even come in with her a couple times and she once again felt secure in thinking of him as her brother.

But her sister living with Derek, that was an entirely different matter . . .

"Lizzie?" she heard Edwin ask again, snapping her out of her reflections. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she sighed, "I guess I am."

"Yeah, well, you don't sound like it," he observed.

"Casey is going to live with someone," she said. "I mean with a man."

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call Derek a man," said Edwin, laughing nervously.

"Exactly," she said. "They're 19. And I never thought Casey would move in with someone when she was only 19."

"Tell me about it," said Edwin, "I didn't think that Derek would move in with someone, well, ever."

"I don't even know what to think of it," she said. "I mean, my perfect sister wants to live with a man."

There was a pause.

"I don't think Casey would be doing this unless she really loved him," said Edwin.

"Yeah," Lizzie said, attempting a smile, "I guess you're right . . . But it's still a little weird for me."

"Well, if you need someone to look up to there's always your big brother Edwin," he said confidently, gesturing toward himself.

"Yeah, like that's going to happen," she said, rolling her eyes and laughing slightly.

She was glad to have him in her life and she knew that everything would be okay. Nonetheless, she thought to herself, maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to go see Paul a few more times . . .

* * *

Author's Note: 

So obviously, neither this fic or "A Casual Comment" feature Lizwin. I like Lizwin (there is some chemistry, as can be seen in Fright Night), but given the fact that Lizzie has started to call George dad (see Adios, Derek), I feel like it would be much harder for me to write than Dasey.

And speaking of which, the next chapter, which will feature George & Nora's reactions, will be the most challenging for me as a writer. Since, I'm quite busy at moment, I may not get to it for quite a long time. But it is coming and hopefully you'll like it.


	6. Shocked

Author's Note: So I hope that you guys don't find Derek too out of character in this chapter. Throughout this story, I've tried to keep Derek and Casey in character as much as possible while allowing them room to grow. Also, I know that this chapter is short. I originally planned to include this and what will be the contents of the next chapter in a single chapter but I realized that it would be extremely long. Only one more chapter to go.

**Chapter 6—Shocked **

"But you're only 19!" yelled Nora.

"Yeah, but together, we're 38," said Derek, wiggling his eyebrows and smiling.

Casey shot him a reproachful look, shaking her head at him.

George sighed. They had been having this conversation for over half an hour and it was clearly that it wasn't about to end any time soon.

He had been a nineteen-year-old boy once, so unlike his wife, he wasn't incredibly shocked to learn that Derek and Casey had started sleeping together once they went away to college. He wasn't incredibly pleased about the whole thing but it wasn't really a surprise. He'd had a hell of a time preventing it while the two of them were living at home . . . What he was shocked by, however, was the fact that they wanted to move in together. After all, up until he started dating Casey, his son hadn't exactly been the world's biggest fan of commitment.

"Seriously, Mom," said Casey, "age has nothing to do with this. We're both old enough to know what we want."

"No, Casey, you're not," said Nora, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Nora," Derek said, touching her shoulder and clearly trying to be gentle, "I appreciate your perspective. But this is happening whether you and Dad like it or not."

"Excuse me, Derek?!" George said angrily, upset by what his son had just said to his wife.

"Look, Dad," Derek said firmly, "as much as we would like your permission, we're going to do this either way. If you don't allow us to get an apartment than Casey will just switch beds with Jake next year. Not that she'll need her own bed."

Nora started sobbing.

"Derek," Casey said softly yet reproachfully.

George couldn't believe that his son had just said that so bluntly. He knew that this was upsetting Nora and Derek was being extremely insensitive about it.

"No Casey," Derek said, his voice more serious and determined than George had ever heard it, "they need to hear this." He turned toward George and Nora before continuing. "I want you to hear this. I want you to know what we are to each other and to accept us."

"Derek, that's enough!" said George.

"We didn't have to tell you at all, Dad," said Derek, angrily. "But we did. Because we care about this family and we don't want to lie to you." Casey nodded her head at him, encouraging him to continue. "We want you to be happy for us."

Nora let out another sob.

"And if you can't be happy," Derek continued, "and if you can't even accept us, then at least acknowledge the situation. Nora, I'm in love with your daughter and this going to happen."

Casey had placed her hand on his son's shoulder and was standing resolutely behind him.

George didn't know what to make of this. He wasn't happy, but he didn't see anything he could do. He hoped that Derek knew what he was doing because if they moved in together and then broke up it would hurt everyone in their family. He was angry and unsure and had no idea what to say.

"Well," said Nora sobbing, "if there is nothing we can say than I guess that's that. Get the apartment together; I won't try to stop you."

"We're not happy about this," added George, "but you're our children and so I guess that we have to accept what you choose to do with your lives."

"And Derek," Nora said, her voice becoming hard, "if you ever heart my daughter, I'll kill you."

"Thank you, Mom," said a tearful Casey, throwing her arms around his wife. "I know that he won't."

George sighed. He hoped that this was not a hasty decision and that his children were not jumping into this rashly. "Next thing you know," he muttered, "you'll be asking us for subscriptions to bridal magazines."

"Oh Georgie," said Nora, though her sobs, "Casey has been putting together a wedding binder since before I even met you." His wife was clearly still distressed by this whole situation.

Derek raised his eyebrows at Casey and smirked. "Why am I not surprised by that?" he said.

"Oh shut up, you idiot," Casey said, smiling softly at him.

George could only sigh again.

"Come on Derek," he said, let's go get your brother and sisters and tell them the news.

As soon as they had left the dorm room and shut the door to the hallway, he turned to his son again. He wore a serious and angry expression on his face.

"Derek," he whispered sternly, thinking of his wife's tears, "you better know what you're doing. Because if this doesn't work and mid-way through the year you decide to move out, you'll be hurting a lot more people than just Casey."

"Dad," Derek said turning to him, his voice hard and serious, "I've never been more certain about anything in my life."

All George could do was nod. He was a little bit shocked by his son's tone of voice. It was full of resolution, determination, and yes, love for someone else. Frankly, George was a little bit frightened by it.


	7. Ready or Not

**Chapter 6—Ready or Not . . . **

Nora dried her eyes and sniffled. Her daughter was growing up so fast. Too fast in her opinion.

Ever since she first met Derek, Nora had been prepared for the possibility that he might date Casey. After all, they were the same age and she and George had tossed them together under one roof. What she was not prepared for, however, was how far things had gone between them. It had never even crossed her mind that her daughter would actually want to live with Derek and she'd been caught completely off guard.

She understood that Derek wanted her to know he was serious, but did he have to throw certain aspects of their relationship in her face like that? Maybe she should have expected it given that Casey was in college, but she'd been upset to learn that they were sleeping together. She had been unprepared to hear that her perfect daughter was in an adult relationship and wanted to make that relationship even more serious by moving in with the guy.

She wished that Casey had brought it up more gently. Maybe the sex wouldn't have bothered her so much if the two them had had a quiet heart to heart. A PowerPoint presentation and an angry speech from her stepson weren't exactly the ideal ways to learn that her daughter was sexually active . . .

Nora let out a sigh and dropped down into Derek's beanbag chair in exhaustion. That's when she saw it.

"Casey, it's absolutely filthy under this bed," she said, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

"I knew that someone would notice," said Casey. "I told him that he needed to clean under there!"

Did her neat-freak daughter really want to live with someone like this? Nora still had a hard time believing it.

As she stared at the junk that had accumulated under Derek's bed, she thought about the first time she had taken Casey and Lizzie to visit the Venturi house. She and George were already engaged at that point and their children had met each other several times before. However, that night had been a big deal for her as it was the first time that her girls had seen the place that they were going to live. It had not gone well . . .

"_Maybe we should just start eating," George suggested._

_It was 7:15 and Derek was still not home. Nora didn't know what to make of it. This evening was a big deal for her and her girls. Didn't the Venturis feel the same way?_

"_Georgie, I don't understand," she said. "Didn't he know that we were coming?"_

_Casey was looking a little bit smug. Nora knew that this was just confirming the already negative impression that she had formed of her soon-to-be stepbrother. _

"_Nora, I'm so sorry," George said. "I must have reminded him five times this week. I don't know why he's not here yet. If you want I can try his cell phone again."_

"_Don't bother, George," she said sighing. "Let's just try to have a nice evening without him."_

_They had already called Derek several times and Nora suspected that one more time wouldn't do much good. Although Derek wasn't always on top of everything, Nora knew that George and his kids were great. She just hoped that her girls would remain open enough to notice it. _

"_Georgie, why don't we give the girls a tour of the house!" she said, brightly, trying to lighten the mood._

"_Um . . .okay," George said, smiling nervous._

_Nora shot him a puzzled look. Why was he so nervous? She knew that he had been cleaning the house all week and the downstairs looked great. Well, great for George and his kids at least. _

_George gave them the grand tour: the kitchen, the laundry room, his room, Edwin's room, Marti's room, the bathroom, the attic, and then they came to Derek's room . . . Casey insisted on seeing it; Nora knew she was thinking about what room she would get when they moved in. George reluctantly opened the door. _

_The floor was absolutely covered. Half of the drawers were open and there were piles upon piles of clothes. Nora couldn't tell which were clean and which were dirty. Maybe none of them were clean . . . Intermixed with the clothes were papers, school books, and garbage. There were at least two empty pizza boxes and empty bottles of Coke and Gatorade were strewn across the floor. And the walls were even worse. They were covered with lewd pictures of scantily clad women. _

"_This is disgusting!" Casey shouted. "How can anyone live like this!"_

_Lizzie was nodding vigorously in agreement. _

"_Pretty sweet bachelor pad, huh?" said Edwin, enthusiastically._

_Nora was a little bit worried about him and Marti. She hoped that they didn't think that this was normal . . . _

"_Derek is even more of an animal than I thought!" Casey shouted. "Maybe we should build an enclosure for him in the backyard before Lizzie and I move in."_

"_Casey!" yelled Nora._

"_I want an enclosure in the backyard too!" yelled Marti. "I'm a cat!"_

"_Marti, Casey just meant that Derek is gross and disgusting," explained Lizzie._

"_Hey!" Marti said, turning to Casey. "Don't talk that way about Smerek!"_

"_Oh, um, sorry Marti," Casey said, looking slightly embarrassed. Nora knew that her daughter hadn't meant to hurt the little girl's feelings. She had just been shocked and upset. And really, who could blame her . . . _

"_Did I hear someone say my name?" asked a voice, coming in from the hallway. _

_It was Derek . . . finally. And holding his hand was a very tall blond girl. _

"_Derek!" yelled George. "Where have you been!"_

"_I was, um, out," said Derek simply, winking at Edwin._

"_Did you forget that Nora and her girls were coming tonight?!" George yelled._

"_Oh," said Derek, sucking in the air through his teeth, "that was tonight? Sorry, Nora."_

"_I guess you'll have to go Lacey," he said regretfully, turning to the blond girl._

"_It's Leslie!" she said angrily._

"_Oh, I know," said Derek making a slick recovery. "You see," he said, leaning into to her as if speaking confidentially (although Nora could hear him just fine), "Lacey is the name of my step-sister-to-be. And I guess that we both know who I really wanted to leave." _

_His date giggled and with that he took her hand and showed her out the front door, leaving all of the McDonalds looking stunned and indignant. Had Derek really forgotten her daughter's name? He had met her girls at least five times already._

_The whole family followed Derek down to the first floor and as soon as the front door slammed both Casey and Lizzie let him have it._

"_It's Lizzie!" "It's Casey!" they said simultaneously._

"_No, it's one of the other girls Derek is dating," explained George. _

"_Lacey," added Edwin._

"_You didn't really think that I'd confuse you with my date?" said Derek, walking over to Casey and slinging his arm over her shoulder. She shirked it off in disgust. _

_Despite his words, Nora couldn't help wondering about Derek. She didn't think that her daughter noticed it, but he appeared to be giving Casey the once over, running his eyes over her body and briefly lingering on certain parts. She and George would have to have a talk about that before they moved in . . ._

_After a stressful dinner filled with bickering and squabbling, she finally took the girls home. As soon as they got in the car Casey turned to her questioningly. _

"_Mom do you really expect us to live with those people?!" her daughter asked. "I mean they're loud and rude and filthy! And did you see Derek's room!"_

"_Casey, honey," she said, "I don't expect you to understand this now, but there are much more important things than how clean a person keeps his house. George is a kind, funny, wonderful man who loves me and genuinely cares about both his kids and you girls. I couldn't ask for a better person to move in with."_

"_Well, I could," said Casey, quietly. "I don't want to live in a pigsty."_

"_Casey," she said, giving her daughter a hurt look, "I hope that you'll change your mind."_

_Casey gave her a skeptical look._

"_Don't worry," she said, "I'll make sure that they clean the place much more thoroughly before we move in."_

Looking at the mess under Derek's bed, Nora couldn't help question her daughters complete 180.

"Casey," she said, "are you sure that you want to do this? Look at how messy Derek still is."

"Mom," said Casey, giving her a slight smile, "there are much more important things than how clean a person keeps his room. Derek is kind and sweet and funny, and we love each other. I couldn't ask for a better person to move in with."

Nora couldn't help but smile. An unexpected and very tentative thought slowly crept into her mind. Maybe, just possibly, Casey and Derek were ready for this after all.

* * *

**Author's Note: **

So I decided to end this fiction on a hopeful but not unrealistically happy note. George and Nora still have some doubts but I think that most parents would. Speaking of which, I know that George & Nora have been a little OC in these last few chapters. Of all the characters, I think that they are the hardest for me to write. Also, there may be a short sequel to this story, but I haven't decided yet. I have a vague idea for one, but if I were to write it, it wouldn't be posted for at least a couple months. So that's it for now. Hope you liked it!


End file.
